Air flow conveyer



Oct. 21, 1952 CHEREWlCK 2,614,892

AIR F LOW CONVEYER Filed Dec. 20, 1948 IN VENTOR FREDERICK \JOHN CHEREWICK ATTOR NE Y Patented a. 21, 1952 N AIRFELQW CQNVEYER Frederick John Qherewick, VancouvenfBritish I w 1 .Cclumbia, Canada U spplicsu apmmhcr 20. masses: N 66..so

, bins in homes from a delivei yfltruckgwhere.sit

is necessary to pile the sawdustnp-to substantially ceiling height and well into corners, so that ayailablespace shall be made the ,utmost ;use,o f. further ,object is to provide-means whereby thexgde'liveryshall'be rapidfand QontinuQu.'-t0;reduce the cost of delivery, and alsoto depositthe sawdust delivered'in'itsfinal storage position with a minimum amount offine dust-being leftinsuspension in the air surrounding the end of the delivery hose.

The invention contemplates the use of a Venturi. structure wherein one component of the structure delivers a propelling media to the other and the other component of the structure delivers material free from air or vapour entrainment into the propelling media, as will be more fully described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the invention. 1 I

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the outer end of the screw conveyor.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral I indicates a base which is adapted to be mounted on or within a delivery truck. Mounted upon the base I is a horizontally disposed cylindrical pipe 2 having a fuel inlet opening 4, to which is fitted a suitable hopper 5 for feeding the sawdust or other material to the pipe 4. Fitted around the pipe 2 is a circular air feed housing 6 having an annular row of outlet orifices 1 in one 'wall which communicate with a Venturi cone 9. The air housing t is connected with a blower I I which is driven from the power take-off of the truck, not shown, or from any other source of power.

A delivery pipe I2 of substantially the same diameter of the cylindrical pipe 2 extends from the truncated end of the cone 9 and in alignment with said pipe 2 and is spaced from the pipe 2to form an annular Venturi jet I4. To the outer I constant.

Rotatablymounted within the cylindricalpipe 2 i a ee rew fiphari g a shaf wh i i urnalled in snacedib arins Z10 c e by t e base :I. Theouter end of the shaft- I9 is splined or otherwise provided tokslidably but" nonrotatably engage a pulley '2 I by which the ied.

screw ,I 8 is driven from a suitable source-of power. A" block 24 "is slidably fittedinto the mouth -ofthe cylindrical pipe 2 and "the shaft -I9 is-held against movement --ther ealong by the collars 12-5. The block 2 l-is fitted with a lug 2 5, see Figure-s l and '2,;in which the shaft 28 of a hand screw =29 is j ournallecl, the screw 29 threadedly engagesia dug 30 which is carriedby the outer'endof thespipe'fl. The conveyor shaft I Bids, by means of the "hand screw ZQjadjustable endwise of the pipe 2, so that the inner end of the feed screw I8 may be adjusted to any desired distance away from the annular Venturi jet I4, or the inner end of the pipe 2. I

In operating the device, sawdust is run into the hopper and the feed screw I8 is set in motion to build up a plug 35 of compressed sawdust at its inner end, the blower II is set in motion to create a force of air at the Venturi jet of suitable pressure. The plug 35 of compressed sawdust at the discharge end of the pipe 2 is thrust beyond the end of the pipe towards the inner end of the pipe I2, reducing to some extent the interspace of the annular jet I4 therebetween. The restriction of said interspace causes a momentary increase in air velocity which disintegrates parts of the plug back to comminuted material and assists or causes masses of'the plug to break 01? and enter These masses may be only slightly less than the diameter of the pipe I4 and naturally are thrown thereinto under the influence of the higher velocity air from the jet. Each mass remains as a loosely fitting plunger for a short distance of travel and is carried at substantially wind velocity through the pipe and into the hose I6 where it too breaks down to comminuted material substantially filling the pipe and traveling therethrough at air speed, which soon levels off to a The intermittent movement of the plug to reduce the air jet and the breaking off of plug masses to restore it to normal, causesa.

fluttering action at the entrance to the pipe I4 so that a great volume of sawdust is entrained by the air fiow. In actual practice, this machine being supplied with air to the cone 9 at a pressure of five pounds p. s. i. and fitted with a delivery pipe I2 and hose I6 of four inches diameter will deliver six tons of sawdust in ten minutes without clearly visibly creating a dust laden atmosphere two feet beyond the delivery end of the hose. The air flutter at the annular jet is believed to be the reason that the sawdust is carried into the pipe [2 in a dense mass and is capable of being entrained in an air stream of but little greater volume than that combined with the sawdust before feeding it into the hopper.

The object of building up the plug of compressed sawdust in the pipe 2 to the rear of the annular jet I 4, is also to prevent air from entering the delivery pipe l2 from the feed hopper.

It will be obvious that adjustment will need to be made to the machine to compensate for the type of material to be conveyed and the distance or height to which it must be conveyed. For instance, with light material to be delivered a short distance only, the plug 35 would not need to be of great length and the volume of air required tobe delivered through the jet M would be low. If the distance of delivery were to be increased, the airflow from the blower would need to be increased and the screw l8 drawn back by the hand screw 29 toprovide a longer plug 35 and so prevent air flow lengthwise of the screw it.

acted upon by the feed screw will compress intoa substantially self supporting solid cylindrical body, the diameter of the portion of the cylindrical pipe between the end of the feed screw and the jet being constant and being equal to the diameter of the end of the feed screw, said cylindrical pipe and delivery pipe being of the same diameter adjacent the annular jet, andmeans for admitting air under pressure through the annular jet.

2. In a device as claimed in claim 1, said air admitting means including a conical housing surrounding said cylindrical pipe and in communication with the annular jet, and means for admitting air to the housing.

3. In adevice as claimed in claim 2, means exterior of the cylindrical pipe for moving the feed screw lengthwise of the pipe.

4. In a device as claimed in claim 1, means exterior of the cylindrical pipe for moving the feed screw lengthwise of the pipe.

FREDERICK JOHN CHEREWICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS the Date 

